


Over the Road

by writinginthedust



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 04:49:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17016057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writinginthedust/pseuds/writinginthedust
Summary: A gift for Everlark Birthday Drabbles and I'm so sorry that I can't remember who this was for! I can't fully remember the prompt either but they wanted a modern love story with friends to lovers I believe :)Katniss has something on her mind after seeing a woman leave the Mellark's Bakery in the early hours of the morning...





	Over the Road

Katniss stared down at the three identical bottles.

Each bottle was filled with white lotion that had taken on a deep forest green hue due to the colour of the glass that it was now contained in. Each stood naked, waiting for labelling before being placed on the shelf for the customers. Still, Katniss stared down.

Her left hand held the brown tag with twine which was to be looped around the bottle neck while her right hand held the pen that was supposed to mark the tag as Chamomile. She had been holding them for five, maybe ten, minutes and still hadn’t written a word.

The door from the back of the store opened and the cheery voice of her sister rang out, bidding her a good morning before lamenting in good humour how cold it was getting and how dark it was in the mornings now.

The words seemed to drift in and out of Katniss’ preoccupied mind until slender fingers curled around her own and a concerned face appeared in her periphery.

“Katniss? Are you ok?”

The tone of Prim’s voice, one that failed to hide her worry, broke Katniss from her stupor and she shook her head and tore her eyes away from the bottles.

“I’m fine,” she said and forced herself to smile. “It’s just ridiculously early, I haven’t had any coffee and the delivery driver this morning was an asshole.”

Prim gave her hand a squeeze and Katniss saw her shoulders relax. “Oh thank goodness for that, you looked so upset that I thought something awful had happened.”

“Something awful has happened. I haven’t had any coffee.”

Prim grinned at her, a smile that beamed so bright it outshone the streetlights lined up at the shopfront. “Well if that’s all I’ll make sure to brew a pot right now. Sorry to leave you with the delivery this morning.”

Katniss shrugged, “I don’t mind. I’d rather it was me dealing with guys like that than you.” Prim squeezed her hand again, in reassurance or thanks, before moving off to the back where the little kitchen was.

“Prim,” Katniss called after her, “can you make it a normal coffee? None of the weird ingredients this time.”

There was the usual soft mocking of Prim telling her to live a little and Katniss’ response of sticking out her tongue like they were still children. But as soon as Prim had gone through the door Katniss let the smile fall from her face.

There was a truth contained in the set of lies Katniss had delivered.

She didn’t care that it was early, in fact this was nothing in comparison to the times when she used to hunt. She also had a coffee before she left her apartment that morning, needing the heat and caffeine to give her an extra jolt, especially with the chill from the dark morning. The delivery driver was obtuse but not the asshole Katniss had claimed. They were the things she spun to Prim because she couldn’t quite put into words why she was feeling so forlorn.

Something awful _had_ happened but she hadn’t known it would be so awful until she saw it.

‘Primrose’s Botanical Garden’ sat in the small and quaint Merchant Street that branched off from the main shopping parade. All the shop owners down the street had a sense of comradery, joking that they were the real draw to the shopping district because of their historic buildings and rustic charm. There was even a friendly rivalry between their street and the one three streets down, Seam Street, with its industrial vibe and trendy shop owners.  

Merchant Street was not often frequented by the hip or the glamorous so when hip or glamorous appeared than they stood out like a sore thumb. When hip or glamorous emerged from one of the shop doors at five thirty in the morning, lit only by the glare of the streetlight, then they stood out like a sore hand.

When hip or glamorous emerged at five thirty in the morning from the door that happened to belong to Mellark’s Bakery than it was like someone had lit a flaming arrow and aimed it at Katniss’ chest, screaming ‘notice this!’ and notice it she did.

And for some reason she wasn’t liking it.

It wasn’t an unusual occurrence for Katniss to be in the store before Prim. Despite this place being Prim’s dream, it belonged to both of them. Prim’s talent was creating the creams and the lotions and elixirs but Katniss’ was botany and herbal knowledge. Prim’s talent was customer service and being the face of the business, Katniss’ was waking up early and taking deliveries.

Back when they lived near the woods, getting up early for Katniss meant grabbing her bow and arrow and heading into the trees. Or, when she didn’t feel like hunting, just walking through nature and letting it wash over her. Now they were in the town getting up early meant doing the things that needed doing before opening up.

Getting up early also meant watching all the other stores wake up. It was something that she loved seeing the most when winter drew in and all the lights shone brightly onto the street.

Her particular favourite was the bakery opposite. The lights would switch on and the smell of baking bread would waft across the street. Peeta would then walk over, bags of buns in hand, and they would have their breakfast while talking about their previous evening and the Seam Street gossip before he wandered back to Mellark’s to open up.

This morning had been different. The bakery lights hadn’t gone on but Katniss had seen the woman leave the bakery all the same. Despite the dark morning and the sickly yellow of the streetlight, Katniss could see that the woman was pretty. Blonde hair cascaded down her back and she wore a light-coloured raincoat and tanned boots with heels.

Even in that dim light she looked glamourous and with a strange squirming sensation in her stomach Katniss noted that the outfit wasn’t exactly an early morning one. The blonde had closed the door behind her and basically skipped off down the road.

Katniss’ mouth had simply hung open.

Peeta’s lights had turned on and the smell of bread reached her nose but there was no Peeta with his baked goods, easy conversation and charming smile. And so, Katniss had taken in the delivery in a daze and stared down at unwritten labels until Prim had found her.

What the hell, she thought, was this horrible feeling?

***

“Katniss,” Prim said with a gentle voice, “he _is_ single. He can go on dates with whoever he wants and I’m pretty sure he can invite them over for sleepovers too.”

Katniss inhaled a sharp breath in. By midday she had become so irritable and useless that Prim had begged her to tell her what was wrong, knowing that any simple delivery issue would not have caused this level of agitation.

Needing an outlet, she’d caved and part of her was hoping that Prim would act as scandalised and hurt as Katniss felt. But no, her younger sister only offered logic.

“I know that Prim and that’s not the issue.”

“I’m a bit confused then, because you’ve just spent half an hour telling me-”

“It’s _not_ the issue.”

It was because yesterday morning during their breakfast catch up, Peeta had casually mentioned that he was going out for dinner that night but hadn’t mentioned who. He was so open to sharing every detail about his life that he would normally have given a name but he hadn’t for some reason and Katniss hadn’t thought to ask.

The feeling in her chest was wounded pride she decided. Her nose was out of joint that her best business buddy hadn’t told her about his date. She didn’t like not knowing things and that’s all it was. Misplaced pride.

It was also because he hadn’t come over today either. Their routine was out of sync and she didn’t like that. There was a slither of rejection that wormed its way in even though she knew it wasn’t really rejection. He was probably out of his own routine, he was probably tired. Katniss shuddered and that strange pit in her stomach grew.

“Katniss, you’re shredding the receipt paper.”

When she looked down she saw that little pieces of paper decorated the counter like snow fall and sighing she dropped the receipt roll.

“Ugh, I hate when my routine is thrown out.”

“Is that it?” Prim asked and when Katniss glanced at her she saw her sister’s head was tilted to the side like a curious animal. “You’re upset because Peeta hasn’t been over to see because you don’t like it disrupting your routine?”

“That’s exactly it.”

“You’re not upset,” Prim continued, “because your funny and handsome ‘business buddy’ went on a date yesterday evening and there’s the real possibility that he’s been having sex all night?”

“Prim!” Katniss’ voice became a shrill echo through the empty store.

Prim just pulled a faux innocent ‘who me’ face, “What?” she said, like her voice was made of marshmallow. “All I’m saying is the truth and-”

“Yes, but please don’t say it,” Katniss groaned and dropped her head into her hands. She wasn’t an idiot, if people went on dates, brought them home and then the guest snuck out with a skip in their step at an ungodly hour the next morning it usually meant _things._

Prim opened her mouth to speak again but luckily Katniss was saved by the bell. Literally. The front door pushed open and Mrs. Cartwright came in with a wave and booming hello. Prim greeted her with a grin and they began to happily chirp about the new Echinacea lotion Prim had just concocted.

Katniss let their chatter drift over her and made her way to the window where she gathered more dried herbs to use in the display.

Her eyes glanced over to Mellark’s where a steady stream of customers entered and then left, their hands wrapped around the brown paper containing their purchases. Katniss’ stomach grumbled. It was lunchtime and even though she had brought her lunch from home the temptation to go to the bakery was strong.

But she wouldn’t she decided. Her pride was wounded and there was no way she was going over there.

***

_Shut up self,_ Katniss thought to herself. 

The smells of the bakery surrounded her the second she stepped in; fresh bread with an undercurrent of cheese and garlic. A fresh batch of the savoury buns must have just come out of the oven and Katniss could imagine holding them in her hands, all soft and warm and gooey.

Her mouth practically watered like a starved animal. She’d waited until the lunch crowd was thinning out before venturing over. There were two people in front of her but Peeta was serving them like a pro. Efficient but all smiles.

There was no indication as to whether he’d seen her but she watched him as he worked. Despite the chill outside it was warm in the bakery, something wonderfully welcoming in the cooler months but unbearable in summer. It meant that Peeta always wore a t-shirt, his arm muscles flexing as he lifted and moved.

Katniss had watched him haul sacks of flour before and knew how strong those arms were. _Maybe,_ she thought, _he uses those arms to hoist women against the wall._ The image came into her mind unbidden and she tried to shake it out.

But for some reason it got worse. Her eyes trailed down his bare arms to his hands as he gestured to the glass case filled with bear claws as he explained something to customer number one. They were good hands, she decided and a thought flickered in her head at what they would feel like on her body.

She shook her head before realising how odd it would look if Peeta looked over to see her standing in the queue, randomly shaking her head. The problem was that she had seen those hands a million times, had taken things from those hands, had watched as he moved them while explaining things to her, had felt them steady against her lower back as she walked, had them brush strands of hair from her face.

It was a lie if she told herself that she had never thought about them in that capacity before because she had. The sad and sobering thought was that ever since seeing his date leave that morning all she could picture was those hands trailing a path along someone else’s skin.

Suddenly Katniss felt much too sick to eat.

She had two plans of action; stay in the queue or turn around and sneak through the door. Katniss had a delicate tread, it wasn’t even like he needed to know she was ever here.

Even as she thought it, she knew how ridiculous it was. They worked opposite each other. They saw each other every day, they had conversations _every day._ It wasn’t like she could avoid him now just because he’d most likely been spending the previous night wrapped in the arms and legs of another woman.

Her eyes glanced up to the bakery ceiling. Peeta, like many of the shop owners in the Merchant and Seam Street’s, lived above their stores. The spaces weren’t large and mainly consisted of one beds but it made for convenience when needing to open up before the sun had risen.

If the layout was the same as the other side of the street then Katniss stood under Peeta’s bedroom. She could imagine it even as she tried not to. The bay window was always open even though it was now colder at night. Did the blonde woman complain that it was too cold for her or did they both welcome the chilled air?

Their skin would have been sweaty, Katniss decided. Especially the way they would have been sliding all over each other. Peeta’s hair would have darkened from an ashy blonde to a deeper honey colour. Katniss knew this from their morning summer runs when they would head up through the main parade into Seam Street and towards the empty lots at the end before turning back again.

Katniss would always jokingly point out the way his hair would darken from his sweat. She would also point out the increase in his summer freckles less jokingly but then she was always slightly fascinated by them. Peeta would just blush and push his hair from his face and Katniss would try and avoid looking at the muscles along his biceps.

Last night the blonde woman probably brushed the hair out of Peeta’s eyes for him while he held himself over her. They would have reached for a kiss and Peeta would have skimmed his fingertips down the woman’s neck, like he’d done occasionally with Katniss, when there was a piece of dried herb stuck to her or a clothing label that needed tucking in.

Katniss’ brain was too busy concocting the movie in her head with movement and moans and so it took a while for the sound of her name to register. At first she thought it was being called over a distance but when she broke herself from her reverie she realised it was coming from behind the counter.

“Katniss? You ok?”

She’d been stood there, staring up at the ceiling, her hands two clenched fists by her side. When she looked at Peeta she couldn’t see any signs of tiredness on his face, just concern. Maybe it was concern, she wondered, that his date wouldn’t want to see him again. But she would, Katniss thought, he was wonderful.

“Katniss?” There was an edge to his voice.

She met his blue eyes head on. “I’m fine,” she said. “Just came over to say hey. I didn’t see you this morning.” She hadn’t meant to say it but it just slid from her mouth unwelcome.

Peeta’s face crumpled. “Shit, I know,” he said and he rapped his knuckles on the counter. “I’m so sorry, I got caught up with something this morning and then when I realised what the time was it was time for me to open up. Here,” he reached down beside him and brought up a paper bag, “this is our breakfast. We can have it for lunch,” he suggested hopefully.

“I’m not hungry,” she said and ignored the look of hurt that flickered on his face.

“Ok, coffee then?”

“I really did only come over to say hey.”

What was wrong with her? She’d spent the entirety of the morning with her stomach slowly digesting itself and now that she was standing in front of him she found that she had turned into a human block of ice.

There was a ringing of the doorbell as a customer stepped into the bakery. Peeta looked past Katniss and she saw recognition flash in his eyes, he quickly waved to the figure behind and turned to Katniss again.

“I’ll come by after close with a post work slice of cheesecake. How does that sound?” She could be imagining it but desperation had crept into his voice. They stood opposite each other, her with her strange, agitated tenseness and him rubbing the back of his neck in a gesture she recognised as nerves. Peeta was a ball of anxious energy and a frantic need to please.

Some of the invisible ice around her began to melt as she took in his face and the worried way his eyes seemed to be searching hers. “Sure,” she said with a weak smile. “I’ll see you then.”

It was obviously enough of a gesture for him to dissipate some of his concern and he broke into a smile that, like Prim, seemed to outshine lights. “I’ll see you then,” he replied, his voice more relaxed.

Katniss gave him a wave goodbye and turned to leave, glancing at the customer she stepped past.

The woman gave her a genuinely pleasant smile before fixing her attention to Peeta.

It was a simple greeting to the baker that left the woman’s lips, light and friendly and innocuous, but Katniss’ felt her stomach twist itself around. She took in the blonde hair that cascaded down her back, the stylish raincoat and the heeled boots that had skipped down the very sidewalk that Katniss now wanted to throw up on.

Peeta had already moved on to greet her but Katniss couldn’t stand to hear any more. She quickly pushed her way out the bakery into the chilly air before she did something stupid like cry.

***

Prim had moved her to the backroom because the sight of Katniss’ scowling face wasn’t exactly customer friendly. After Katniss had slammed the third box down, Prim had hastily moved Katniss back to the front of the store because she was getting concerned that Katniss was going to smash up the bottles.

“Just put me to work on the herbs,” Katniss had said but Prim told her that at that moment in time she wasn’t trusting Katniss with sharp implements.

“I’m just worried,” she’d added, “that you may go on a rampage down the Seam.”

Katniss had rolled her eyes. “They overcharge anyway,” she said. “They probably deserve it.”

She’d spent the remainder of the afternoon pouring liquids into bottles, stacking shelves, avoiding Prim’s questioning glances, labelling, changing the receipt paper, avoiding looking at Mellark’s Bakery, making endless coffee after coffee and avoiding more of Prim’s questioning glances.

It was when Prim announced it was five minutes to close that Katniss let out a groan. Normally seeing her best business buddy was the best part of her day but now, knowing that he was coming over, just made her feel ill.

“Hey,” there was a gentle brush of fingers on her arm and Katniss looked over to see Prim. “What’s up? And if you tell me it was a delivery driver or a misplaced bottle I’ll know you’re lying.”

Katniss told her about how the blonde woman from this morning was in the bakery. “It’s not enough that she’s ruined our breakfast routine but now she just turns up during lunch? She’ll probably head over with him later too. And tomorrow morning, and probably the one after. That’s it you know. The end of Katniss and Peeta.”

“The end of what for Katniss and Peeta?”

“Our friendship. Obviously.”

“I don’t understand,” Prim said, “why would your friendship be over?”

Katniss sighed and rubbed her eyes with her palms. “Because that’s what happens when guys get into relationships. They spend all their time with their girlfriend and other women don’t get a look in. Even female friends. _Especially_ female friends. He won’t come over for breakfast any more, and lunch at the weekends will be off and I’ll just kiss goodbye to the cinema and the Farmer’s Market.”

There was silence from Prim and when Katniss pulled her hands away from her face she could see her sister was smiling.

“You go to the Farmer’s Market?”

“Not every Sunday.”

“Since when do you have lunches with Peeta at the weekend?”

“I like to bring him food on Saturdays. Jeez Prim, it’s not like he has a lot of staff and he’s always in that place. He can’t _live_ off of baked goods.”

“Uhuh. I’m beginning to get a clearer picture here.” Prim tilted her head to the side again and looked at Katniss with twinkling eyes. “Frankly I’m amazed that he’s even managed to find time to have a date.”

Katniss ignored the tugging in her gut. “I know,” she said and she truly meant it. “He’s run ragged with that place.” And it was true, no one worked harder than Peeta.

“No,” said Prim. “I meant that I’m amazed he’s found the time to have a date on account of the fact that he seems to be dating _you_.”

“That’s absurd!” Katniss exclaimed but wondered at the ridiculous slither of delight that ran through her.

“Has he ever touched you _affectionately_?” Prim asked.

“He’s a tactile guy.”

“Has he ever brought you gifts for no reason?”

Katniss thought about the panini press in her apartment. And the cute woollen scarf that he gave her recently when it started to get cold. And the arrowhead that he found while walking and cleaned up for her.

She stayed silent. Prim read into it anyway.

“Do you keep anything for sentimental purposes?”

There was a box under her bed of cinema ticket stubs of the movies they liked but Prims face was starting to look smug so Katniss decided to not tell her that.

“Do you think about him naked a whole bunch?”

“Prim!”

“I bet you are now though.”

Katniss groaned and wondered if she could stage an accident for her sister involving shelving units and lotion when her sister piped up one more time.

“He’s coming over this way.”

Katniss let out another groan and dropped her head to the counter. “Is he alone?”

“Yes,” Prim said. “And he looks really nervous. What did you do to him?”

“Nothing,” Katniss sighed. “Maybe, _maybe,_ I was a little more abrupt than usual. Besides, he’s probably nervous because he’s going to tell me that he’s met the love of his life.”

“Well it’s the quickest I’ve ever seen him close up.”

It was on the tip of Katniss’ tongue to say that it was probably because he had another hot date but she didn’t say it. She didn’t want to give Prim the remote impression that she was beginning to slide into a pit of misery. Despite the truth that she already was.

The bell chimed and Katniss raised her head. Peeta was wearing his chunky winter coat and the scarf she’d given him last Christmas, green and orange, was wrapped around his neck. The blonde waves of his hair skimmed the upturned collar of his coat and she made a mental note to remind him to get his hair cut.

He worked so long and so hard at the bakery that sometimes he just forgot to take care of himself despite always remembering to take care of her. Not, she thought, that it was her business. It would be his new girlfriends’ business now.

“Hey,” he said and it came out breathy, like he’d rushed to get through closing and then ran to get to their store. He lifted the box in his hands. “Cheesecake, as promised.”

“Ooh cheesecake,” squealed Prim, “my favourite.”

Peeta seemed startled, Katniss thought it was as though he hadn’t even noticed Prim standing next to her. Maybe he hadn’t. From the second he stepped into the store only seemed to have eyes for Katniss.

This is it, she thought. Prim’s right about the nerves. He’s going to tell me about the amazing night he had with the beautiful blonde and I’m going to have to smile and pretend to be happy for him. I’ll have to pretend to be happy for him when she moves in, and again when they get married and later again when they start having beautiful blonde babies.

She knew what this emotion was now, she’d recognised it for the pure raging jealousy it was and now all she wanted to do was throw herself at his mercy and beg him to notice her.

But it seemed he had noticed her. Or at least he’d noticed her clenched fists.

“Um,” he started, his eyes drifting between Prim’s face and Katniss’s hands. Katniss could see confusion and a hesitation drifting in the blue of his irises.

“What flavour it is?” Prim asked, clearly trying to help him out.

“Chocolate.”

“Katniss’ favourite,” Prim said with a wink and Katniss watched as a deep pink flushed its way across Peeta’s cheeks.

“Um,” he muttered again and Katniss couldn’t bear it any longer. He seemed out of place standing in front of them. He fidgeted where he stood, shifting from foot to foot, his fingers clutching the box tightly. What ever had happened between lunch time and now had set him on edge.

The fact that she was inadvertently glaring at him probably wasn’t helping matters.

Prim walked around the counter to the shop door, locking it and flipping the sign to close. As she passed Peeta, who stood watching Katniss watch him in a silent standoff, she gently tugged the box from his hands. “I’ll take this and get some plates,” she said. Then, because some demon from hell must have possessed her, Prim paused and glanced between Katniss and Peeta. “Then you can tell us all about how your date went. I think Katniss is a bit jealous.”

It was a good thing, Katniss decided, that Prim could move fast when she needed to because before Katniss could even consider picking up one of the jars on the counter and throwing it her sister’s head, said sister had picked up some speed and sprinted off towards the kitchen.

Heat burned its way up Katniss’ neck and set her face on fire. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in before she could even look at Peeta. Prim had obviously decided to start a game, invited two new players and didn’t declare the rules.

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked directly at Peeta, “Listen-” she began but something about the look on his face stopped her.

“You’re jealous?” he asked quietly.

“No!” she exclaimed but the look on his face had changed from what appeared to be hope to crushing disappointment. “I mean...” she trailed off with a sigh. “Yeah, I guess... yeah.”

“I knew you were out for dinner last night and then I saw your date leave at stupid o’clock this morning. She looked happy, by the way, and then she was visiting you at lunch. She’s pretty,” Katniss blurted, “really pretty. She has lovely hair. I bet she’s really nice too.” Her voice had taken on a strange quality and it sounded like it was starting to break apart at the edges. “You know what, I really don’t want to hear about your date.”

Peeta seemed to be staring off into the distance past Katniss’ head and she just watched as the Adams apple in his throat bobbed up and down. “You’re jealous,” he repeated from earlier, “and you don’t want to hear about my date.”

“No,” she whispered. “I really don’t.”

“Well it’s a good thing I didn’t have one then.”

“What?” she said. “I saw her leave this morning, you’d obviously been spending the night, you know...” she trailed off once more, letting her hand gesticulate in wildly in the air. Where the hell was Prim with those plates anyway?

His eyes twinkled and she wondered if he wasn’t at least a little bit amused. “Come with me,” he said as he held out a hand. “Please.”

She eyed it warily but she didn’t know why she hesitated. Regardless of what he’d been spending his evening doing, she would follow him anywhere. “Let me get my coat,” she told him and as soon as she said it, the door to the back opened and her coat flung its way into the store front.

“There you go!” came Prim’s jaunty call and Katniss wondered for the millionth time that day how loose the shelving units actually were.

***

They walked up Merchant, past the dark shops and those that were still dimly lit with the owners inside. Katniss waved to Sae as they passed her store and then quickly shoved her hands back into her pockets, her fingers tingling from the chill.

“Are you cold?” Peeta asked her and before she answered he’d already removed his scarf from his neck and wrapped it round hers. She tipped her face down into the wool so her nose was buried in the fabric and took a deep breath in. It smelled like him, his cologne and his skin, and she felt her eyes water but didn’t fully know why.

Their path took them onto the main shopping parade and past three streets before they turned left onto Seam. Katniss looked at Peeta quizzically but he said nothing, just placed an arm her back and encouraged her forward.

They kept walking until they reached the large, empty lots at the end, the ones that they ran past in the summer, and they stopped in front of one.

“This,” Peeta said, “is Mellark’s Bakery. Or will be.”

“What?” The words made sense but at the same time, not at all.

He let out a deep breath, the chill causing it to come out in visible puffs. Peeta extracted his arm from her and shoved his hands in his pockets, hunching his shoulders. It seemed to Katniss to be as much a defence gesture as well as protection from the cold.

“I’m upsizing,” he told her, facing straight ahead at the building and avoiding her widening eyes. “The bakery is doing particularly well and I need more space. I also need to hire more people.” He gave a dry chuckle at that statement. “I’m hoping that I can eventually get one of those ‘lives’ that other people talk so fondly of.”

There was silence between them as they stood in front of the store front.

Katniss felt a lump move into her throat. The building was double the size of the current Mellark’s Bakery and had an upstairs. She knew from conversations with him that he wanted to have a seating area for eat-in diners and she had wholeheartedly encouraged it. She’d even imagined herself sitting in one of the chairs, whiling away her Saturday with cheese buns and coffee, reading a book and watching him work.

Now he was close to achieving that and she felt a strange mix of emotions.

“What do you think?” he asked, turning towards her and finally looking her in the eyes.

Her own flickered over his face, from the worried creases in his forehead to the concern in his eyes and the way they seemed desperately pleading for something she didn’t know how to give.

“Do you want the truth?”

“From you? Always.”

A deep sigh left her mouth. “I’m so happy that you’re able to do this.” And she meant it, truly meant it. His success meant as much to her as her own did. “You’ve wanted it for so long and I can picture it exactly.”

“You can?”

“Yep,” she nodded. “I think you’ll add some much-needed rustic charm and if anyone will fit in it will be you but...” she swallowed and nervously chewed on her lip before looking away. “I’m going to really miss you.”

“Hey,” he said and his voice was soft. “There’s nothing to miss, I’m planning on changing nothing else. Nothing.” He removed his hand from his pocket and reached out, taking one of hers and wrapping his palm around it.

Katniss looked down at his pale fingers enclosed around her darker ones and she could feel his pulse thundering in his wrist where it pressed against her skin.

Something spurred her on. Maybe it was the sick feeling she had felt growing in her stomach since seeing a beautiful blonde leave his place that morning that caused her to be bolder than usual.

“Nothing?” she questioned. “You don’t want to change a single thing?”

Her eyes moved from his hand to his face and she saw his eyes roam her features.

“There’s a few things I would like to change,” he said slowly, “but I thought it was a bit of a pipe dream.”

“Go on,” she encouraged.

“I said earlier I wanted to have more of a life and it’s true, I do. I’m at a place now where I can afford to upsize and hire more staff and I want to have time to do more _personal_ things. Last night’s dinner was a rare thing and I honestly, I want to do more of it.”

“Right,” she said, her whole body now on fire. “More dinner dates.” If he just took one of her arrows and shot it straight into her heart it would have hurt less. Katniss tried to pull her hand away but Peeta wasn’t having it, gripping it firmly but not painfully.

“Katniss,” he implored. “Last night wasn’t a date. That was Madge, a friend from college. She owns a grocery and is looking to open a store in Merchant Street. I told her that I was possibly moving mine and so she wanted to take a look at the place on Merchant before I opened up. At lunch she told me she was interested.”

“It’s a good store,” she found herself saying because that was the only thing, she found she could say. His words churned inside her head and she tried to make sense of them. “You moving isn’t so bad,” she said. “I honestly thought you were going to be telling me that you’d met the love of your life.” The laugh she gave was a nervous one.

“Katniss,” he said again and it was gentle, as it always was when he said her name, but this time it sounded filled with reverence. His other hand took her free one and they stood, facing each other, lit by streetlights outside an empty store.

Peeta’s thumbs flexed against the back of her hands and she felt her skin thrum.  “I _have_ met the love of my life. I was hoping I could be the love of _her_ life but I haven’t even taken her out for dinner and I’m kind of hoping that now, with more free time, I can.”

There was a little rise to her heartbeat.

“If you want to be my best business buddy forever than I’ll take it but I’d like the chance at more, a whole lot more.”

“How much more?” she asked and watched as a pink blush trailed its way up his skin. There was a compulsion to follow it with her lips and kiss it away.

“Well whatever it was you thought I was spending last night doing, I wasn’t. But I could and I most definitely would.” Peeta gave a slightly embarrassed chuckle.

“I’m not adverse to that,” she replied, emboldened with a confidence she never knew she had. “But maybe you should kiss a girl first and see where the evening takes you.”

“I can do just that,” he said with a smile and bent his mouth down to hers.


End file.
